JBC "Soldering Assistant" Value (JBC CDEB VS JBC CDB)

[clanderson]

What's everyone's take on JBC's new line of compact stations? More specifically, has anyone had their hands on their new "Soldering Assistant" version? How does it stack up against the base level station? I see the (peak) wattage even differs between the two.

For those interested:

• JBC Compact Soldering Station with Soldering Assistant
• JBC Compact Soldering Station

[SteveyG]

I got to test one of these recently and I plan to get one to do a video on one in a month or so.

Unlike the Metcal system CV system which assesses the thermal profile against an algorithm to determine if the IMC has properly formed, this unit requires the user to perform a reference solder joint first, which is then recorded as a thermal profile. Future solder joints are compared to this reference, so it works well for repeated soldering, such as a bunch of PCB terminal blocks

At least with the version of firmware I tested, the weakness is you would not be able to swap to different types of solder joint quickly or different components since the thermal properties will be different, thus the reference waveform will no longer be valid. Like the Metcal system, it does struggle with small SMD components since they generally have only a very small thermal mass.

As a general soldering iron it's fine though and modernises the look by swapping out graphic monochrome LCD for the TFT seen on the modular systems.

I did a few videos on the Metcal CV system last year.

[clanderson]

That's very useful information, thanks Stevey.

I wonder why the ~30w difference in peak power between the assisted version and non assisted version.

[thm_w]

That's very useful information, thanks Stevey.

I wonder why the ~30w difference in peak power between the assisted version and non assisted version.

150-30 = 20W.
The website spec is wrong it seems, in the manual it shows as 130W: https://www.jbctools.com/pdf/manual-cdeb-soldering-station-0026942_ID-207199.pdf

Internally they will limit power going to the T245 handpiece as well.